1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to the field of carpentry tools. More particularly, the invention pertains to apparatus and methods for gripping a floor joist or wall stud and forcing abutting edges of parallel boards into contact with one another, such as during installation or repair of tongue-and-groove type flooring or other parallel boards over a frame, joist or stud.
2. Description of Related Art
Wooden flooring is usually supplied as boards having tongue-and-groove edges, such that the floor is laid over a subfloor by placing the boards next to each other, forcing the tongue on the edge of one board into the mating groove of the next, and nailing the boards in place through the edge, so that the nails are invisible when the next board is installed. Forcing the tongues into the grooves requires a fair amount of force, and the boards must be held tightly together as the nails are driven. In other applications, such as wherein no subflooring is used, parallel boards must be forced and held together prior to and during nailing.
Traditionally the installation and repair of wooden flooring and other parallel boards has required two carpenters. To assure a tight fit between the individual pieces of flooring the first carpenter forces the flooring being installed or repaired into proper position, while the second carpenter securely fastens the flooring being held to the subfloor, or fastens the parallel boards to a floor joist or wall stud, for example. To insure that the boards are held tightly together, it has generally been the case that nails are driven into the flooring, typically used at an angle, so that as the nail engages with the subfloor or joist, the individual boards are driven laterally into a tighter abutment with the board previously put in place. In this manner the flooring or wall is constructed, one piece at a time, gradually being laid from the base of a starting wall towards the base of an ending wall where the last piece will be put in place.
A number of devices have been developed in the past to aid in the installation of flooring and other parallel boards, but they have had a number of deficiencies, which make them difficult to use.
Examples of prior art flooring clamps or jacks include Parrish, “FLOOR CLAMP” U.S. Pat. No. 10,061, issued in 1853; Foster, “FLOOR-CLAMPS”, U.S. Pat. No. 136,428, issued in 1873; or Lassahn, “CLAMPING DEVICE FOR CONSTRUCTING FLOORING, DECKING AND THE LIKE”, issued in 1964. All of these devices force the flooring into alignment using screw (Parrish), rack-and-pinion (Foster) or hydraulic (Lassahn) force exerted against the floor joists.
Masters, “PUSH STICK FOR PLUMB AND LINE ADJUSTMENT OF STUD WALLS”, U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,806, issued in 1987, is a more general pushing device using a hydraulic ram, but is not used for flooring.
Powernail Co. Inc, P.O Box 300, Lincolnshire, Ill. 60069, currently markets two models of a flooring jack called a Powerjack™. Both use a ratchet mechanism to exert force on flooring. The Powerjack 100 has a bent leg which hooks over the edge of the tongue-in-groove flooring and a flat pressor foot moved by a ratchet. The unit rides on the flooring to be moved, while the pressor foot pushes against a stationary object such as a wall or a stud nailed to the subfloor, thus pulling the flooring into place. The Powerjack 200 is designed for glue down and gym floor installation by pushing from a subfloor anchor point. It has a flat foot which must be attached by nails or screws to the subfloor, and a second foot which can be moved by a ratchet to press against the tongue-in-groove flooring. Both have relatively restricted maximum distances from their anchor points, and, unless used right next to a wall in the case of the model 100, both require some sort of anchor attached to the subfloor.
Various other tools also are known for pushing deck or flooring boards and the like into parallel contact before nailing the boards to a joist. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,127 discloses a board press comprising a dog member dimensioned and configured to grip a joist and a lever attached to one end to the dog member by a ball and socket mounting for pivoting of lever about a pivot axis P-P. The ball and socket mounting enables the pivot axis to be angularly displaced about a point on pivot axis P-P, thereby permitting the user to pivot the lever perpendicularly to the edge of a board being pressed, despite twisting of the dog member on the joist during use. A method of pressing one or more boards disposed on a joist includes using the board press and pivoting the lever in a pivot plane, which is kept perpendicular to the edge of the board, while simultaneously twisting the dog member to seat it upon the joist.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,494 discloses a deck and soffit board camming or pushing device for pushing boards together. The camming device weighs no more than four pounds for forcing an unsecured member into contact with a secured member, where the unsecured member may be secured with a support member. The camming device includes a support plate which carries a locking arrangement. The locking arrangement includes a pair of locking lugs and a locking lever. The device also includes a camming member having camming surfaces and an operating lever having a handle. The camming member is pivotally secured with the support plate in an eccentric fashion. In operation the support member is positioned adjacent an unsecured member and on one of the support members. The lugs are arranged to extend along opposite sides of the support member. The locking lever is rotated in one direction, which locks the support plate with the support member. Now the operating lever is rotated to move the camming member against the unsecured member, which presses it into position adjacent the secured member. Here it is secured in position with the support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,858, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a carpentry tool for pushing flooring boards into contact on a joist, which can be operated with one hand, leaving the carpenter's other hand free for hammering. The tool includes a body member having offset clamping lugs for engaging each side of a joist. A cam lever pivotally mounted at one end of the body member is adapted to force a cam thereon into pushing contact with a flooring board supported by the joist.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,450, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a flooring tool for the installation or repair of wooden tongue and groove flooring. The tool has a jack for exerting linear force, with a fixed and a movable portion. A pivoting gripper is mounted upon the movable portion, and a guide is mounted upon the fixed portion, which allows a brace such as a 2×4 board to be inserted into the guide and gripper and held in place, extending the reach and usefulness of the tool. A foot upon a push-pull rod extends downwards from the fixed portion of the jack, and pushes upon the flooring planks In a preferred embodiment, two attachment points are provided for the foot on its rod, at each end of the fixed portion, providing maximum flexibility.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 353,987 discloses a design for a tool for installing wooden planks. The tool functions by placing the ‘F’-shaped bracket, hereinafter referred to as the gripper body, which is pinned to the handle, over a floor joist or similar structure. The shorter cam member, which is also pinned to the handle, is placed adjacent the board to be pushed or straightened. When the user turns the handle into the board, the joist gripper twists and locks or binds itself to the joist, preventing it from sliding down the joist, and therefore allowing the translation of the cam to push the plank. The dimensions and shape of the joist gripper directly affect its ability to lock to the joist without slipping. A joist gripper with fixed position round shafts or legs will only lock to a particular joist width, with little tolerance for variation in joist width permitted. A slightly wider span between shafts and the gripper will slide. Too narrow a span will prevent the gripper from fitting over the joist.
The tools of the prior art have various drawbacks. Most require the carpenter to use both hands to operate the tool, while an assistant nails the boards to the supporting joist. Further, the tool of U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,494 requires the carpenter to rotate a locking lever in order to engage the tool with a floor joist, before the boards can be pushed into place. Most are undesirably complex and expensive. A need exists in the art for a simple, inexpensive tool for the installation of parallel boards that can be operated with one hand and provides means for adjusting to different size joists or studs.